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“Standards and testing on materials should be done before these products hit the market,” said Kyle. “The government should not be relying on the people working for the recyclers and waste management to act as their canary in the mine shaft.”

As the Armed Services Committee report found, “much of the material used to make counterfeit electronic parts is electronic waste, or e-waste, shipped from the United States and the rest of the world to China.”

The news comes just after one Colorado firm was ordered to pay over $4 million in fines, with two executives sent to prison, for a scheme to illegally dispose of and export electronic waste to China and other foreign countries.

Denver Business Journal: A federal grand jury in Denver has indicted two executives from Executive Recycling, a metro-area electronics recycling company, after a three-year investigation into allegations they dumped hazardous computer waste overseas instead of reusing and reselling it domestically.

Politico, July 13, 2011: “There are a number of efforts to divert e-waste out of the trash and into the hands of recyclers, and states are really leading that charge — but what good is all the effort if it’s just going to be dumped overseas?”

San Jose Mercury News, June 24, 2011. Rob D’Arcy, who runs the county’s household hazardous waste program, called the ordinance “visionary” and applauded the county for being the first government to approve a law regarding e-waste exports.

by Elana Schor, Energy and Environment Daily Three of Silicon Valley’s biggest players are throwing their weight behind a new proposal from Reps. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) and Gene Green (D-Texas) to curb the export of used electronics to developing nations where such toxic “e-waste” can wreak havoc on the health of local populations. The House …